For our weekly news buzz program, we get a review of the pending U.S. farm bill that is moving through Congress, how businesses are dealing with the Affordable Care Act, modern humans have a surprising amount of genes that come from Neanderthals, an important piece of art is returning to Iowa, a new smartphone app designed in Iowa with which users can hear and see how to pronounce certain foreign language sounds, and we hear from a couple mayors of towns on this year’s RAGBRAI route.

Humans developed in warm climates, but eventually our ancestors made their way into colder and more inhospitable regions. Host Ben Kieffer talks with physiologist Kevin Kregel and anthropologist Robert Franciscus of the University of Iowa about how humans have acclimated to cold and challenging environments.

50 years ago the French and Germans signed the Élysée Treaty, which ended centuries of hostile rivalry between the two nations, ushering in a new era of cooperation and friendship. Host Ben Kieffer discuss Franco-German relations in the 21st Century with French Ambassador to the United States François M. Delattre and German Ambassador to the United States Peter Ammon.